Friday 5 June 2020

Redroaster

The Stella Collective & Studio C102

An endless summer was created for Brighton’s oldest coffee house Redroaster, that moonlights as an ambitious haute cuisine venue, Pike and Pine.

The Stella Collective and London Architects, Studio C102 have designed a new vision for the UK based duel venue with the concept of ‘Botanical Punk’.

‘Botanical Punk’ encapsulates the local, vibrant and alternative culture of Brighton and was born out of necessity of being at the mercy of UK winters, when outdoor dining is not an option, a year-round oasis was created, bringing the outside in.

Redroaster was one of the first specialty coffee houses in the UK and needed a revamp that reflected the passion and excitement felt by its new owners, placing it at the forefront of the public’s minds. The client’s brief was to design a duel venue taking it from café by day to fine dining restaurant at night in one breathless act.

Lush and tropical planting were used to create a canopy over the dining areas throughout the café. The jungle, is offset with white clean gridded tiles, adorned by an illustration of a giant goat’s skull to bring back the rock n roll sensibility to the space uniting the two worlds of nature and punk together.
Layers of nostalgia and tongue in cheek references such as the polished chrome words ‘The Beach Is Boring’ blaze from a wall inspiring a tropical gothic feel that reflects throughout the space. Tone and texture also tell a story; with a strong focus on using natural light from the refurbished skylights to reflect the polished brass and marble finishes giving an understated elegance with a tough edge.

Originally starting out life as a post office, the building was one of the oldest in Brighton, with a narrow, dark and cramped layout. To maximise the amount of covers for the restaurant, a bricked safe (from its post office days) was knocked down, exposing the kitchen to the front of house. A custom eight meter Arabescato marble counter, was used as a partition, separating the spaces to be used for shared dining during the day, transforming into a theatrical chefs table at night.

The vision for Redroaster was anything but typical. A slick, perfectly orchestrated hospitality venue would not work in such a town, the team knew they had to not only explore Brighton’s beauty but also acknowledge her inner misfit.